We slept in a
little today, took our time getting ready and drove up to Tarpon Springs for
lunch and to check-out a nearby beach for a future expedition.
We had lunch at
Dimitri’s, a Greek restaurant on the “Sponge Docks” where we have eaten
before. We had excellent Greek food and
I had a Greek beer that was really pretty good.
While we were eating outside, a Great Heron was walking around just
outside the eating area. Eventually, the proprietor came over and tossed what
appeared to be several pieces of raw fish to the bird. I think the bird had been there before - beats
fishing I guess.
After lunch, we
walked down the main street along the water.
This area specializes in selling sponges that are harvested by sponge
divers in the nearby waters. The area is
a popular tourist destination and offers lots of sponges for sale, typical
tourist souvenirs and many Greek restaurants. There are also several Greek bakeries with a
wide assortment of delicious pastries.
We bought some Baklava and cookies to eat later.
The beach we
visited after lunch is the Fred Howard County Park and Beach, another
outstanding Pinellas County park. It is
a 155 acre park with picnic areas, walking paths, scenic vistas and grassy
areas shaded by old-growth oak trees.
The beach is on a small island in the Gulf connected to the park by a
mile-long causeway. Our plan is to
schedule a beach day there next week if everything works out.
We then
travelled to Dunedin for our sunset cruise, departing at 5:30 pm. We arrived a little early and decided to have
a drink at the outside bar at the end of the Dunedin pier. We had excellent Pina Colada’s while listening
to a musician playing guitar and singing Jimmy Buffet songs.
The 2 ½ hour cruise
was on an open-sided boat that carried about 35 persons and included unlimited
drinks, including beer, sangria, rum punch and cheap white wine. We accompanied a happy group of mostly
middle-aged or older tourists who, because of the unlimited drinks, felt even happier
when the cruise was over. We went south
through Clearwater Bay, through Sand Key Pass to the Gulf, then North to Honeymoon
Island, through Hurricane Pass, and back to Dunedin. The cruise was very pleasant until we turned
into the Gulf where the water became rougher.
We saw a lot of neat things on the cruise, osprey nests close by on
channel markers, dolphins (also close) chasing the boat and jumping out of the
water, views of many of the places and restaurants we have visited, several celebrity
houses and another pretty sunset. We
arrived back in Dunedin after dark and decided to skip dinner since we had had a
big lunch as well as letting our stomachs settle a little after the rough water
in the Gulf.
The plan for
tomorrow is for more sightseeing at the Heritage Village adjacent to the botanical
garden we visited last week. If we have
time and feel like it, we also plan to visit a nearby nature preserve.
Day 39 - Pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment